robs Peter to pay Paul

A form of rob Peter to pay Paul — To use resources that legitimately belong to or are needed by one party in order to satisfy a legitimate need of another party, especially within the same organization or group; to solve a problem in a way that makes another problem worse, producing no net gain.

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Meanings

verb
  1. indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of rob Peter to pay Paul
Cite this entry
APA

robs Peter to pay Paul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/robs%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul

MLA

“robs Peter to pay Paul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/robs%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “robs Peter to pay Paul,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/robs%20Peter%20to%20pay%20Paul.

Source: robs Peter to pay Paul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.